Mind, Body, Soul: an event for gay men

An Event for Gay Men

A free event celebrating and supporting the health and wellness of our diverse gay communities

Saturday, January 27th, 2018

9 am – 5 pm

Oakland Marriott City Center

Just off the Downtown Oakland 12th street BART station

Born on the south side of Chicago, Milan Christopher is a rapper, model, actor, reality star, and LGBTQ advocate, who shot to fame in 2015, thanks in part to being cast in a ground – breaking LGBTQ storyline on VH1’s ‘Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood’. Milan is also one of the first and few openly gay men on the hip-hop scene and by far one of the most prolific gay personalities to emerge from the LGBTQ community, and in a larger sense, the Hip Hop community, seeking opportunity, acceptance, and understanding.
Terrence Gore, Artist

The Art of Healing

Scott Tsui, Relationship Results Coach, Author, Event organizer, Entrepreneur

The 3 Key Indicators of Whether You’re Pursuing the Right Relationship in the Right Way

Phoenix Smith, Director of HIV Care, Alameda County Public Health Department Office of HIV Care and Prevention

PREP: Practicing Respect and Empathy in Partnership for Men of Color

Niko Kowell, Trans Services Program Manager, API Wellness

Real Love Beyond the Gender Binary: Hooking up with Trans Masculine Folks

Joshua O’Neal, Director of Sexual Health, San Francisco AIDS Foundation

Condom Fit & Sexual Pleasure
Kenneth J. Breniman, LCSW, RYT, Therapeutic Yoga

Basking in the Vibes of the Rainbow: Embodied yoga for all bodies and chakra sound bath

Camryn Crump, Social Media Outreach Coordinator, APEB

Spiritual Care: Bridging the Gap between Church Hurt and Healing

Andy Duran, Education Director, Good Vibrations

Spicing Up Your Sex Life with Toys

Reverend Tony Bradford

How Strong is your Spiritual Foundation

Andrew Jolivette, Ph.D., Professor, American Indian Studies, San Francisco State University

Queer Voices and Other Love Songs: Envisioning and Enacting the Diversity of LGBTQ2S Minds, Bodies, and Souls

Mind, Body and Soul is an exciting free event celebrating and supporting the health and wellness of our diverse gay communities. The main event takes place on Saturday January 27th at the Oakland City Center Marriott from 9 am to 5 pm and will feature dynamic workshops and speakers on such topics as relationships and intimacy, building a spiritual foundation, increasing safe sexual pleasure, respecting diversity, body awareness and the art of healing.

The day will include a special appearance by rapper, reality TV star, and LGBTQ activist Milan Christopher as well good food and music. Mind, Body and Soul will provide the opportunity for attendees to build connections and fellowship as well as add your voices and insights in discussions which affirm and support the health and well-being of gay men.

Friday Pre-Event

We will hold a screening of award winning filmmaker David Weissman’s (The Cockettes, We Were Here) Conversations with Gay Elders on Friday, January 26th in the Oakland Marriott Junior Ballroom. This evening will also include a discussion with the filmmaker. Doors open at 5:30 pm and the film will begin at 6 pm.

Mixer & After Party @ the Oakland LGBTQ Center

Hosted by Milan Christopher of Love & Hip Hop

Saturday January 27, 5:30 pm – 11 pm

Featuring a virgin happy hour, food, Dj’s, singers, dancing, spoken word, and game room. We will have giveaways as well.

Please join us ! All events are free and require registration to attend.

Building a stronger, healthier community starts with all of us!

Download Agenda PDF

1001 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94607

Gay Men’s Health Summit

January 27, 2018

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The Art of Healing

Being well is an ongoing and active process. This dynamic workshop employs a collage of creativity – movement studies, multi medium, and artistic expression – that enables both teacher and student to attain a higher level of self-awareness.

The Art of Healing workshop stimulates our personal and collective dedication to recharge and advance ourselves with renewed energy and inspiration to promote our physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.

Though the infinite mediums of creative expression, participants discover and re-invent a new canvas strategy and portrait of our deeper selves to gain a tangible interpretation of our unique ability to love ourselves unconditonally.

Tap into your healing power and perception to see yourself authentically. Conquer fear and creatively gain power.
Raised in Philadelphia and a descendant of the Afro Gullah Community, Terrence L. Gore found his creativity essential to his characteristic. He embraced his culture and ingenuity, by incorporating his skill sets as an interior designer, curator, gourmet chef, and fashion stylist, to form T’Elgee Enterprises, a creative service and event company. Based for many years from his art gallery on South Street in Philadelphia Mr. Gore curated shows and sold artwork by well-known African-American artists like Allen Stringfellow and Haitian artist Frank Louissaint.

In addition to his talents as a visual creator, Mr.Gore began to study dance at a late age at the Philadelphia Dance Company and Gwendolyn Bye Dance Studio. He progressed quickly and was eventually invited to perform with The Obediah Wright Balance Dance Theater in New York City. Then in 2004, he performed in Gwendolyn Bye’s Production of The Nutcracker.

In 2006, after many years of business success, Gore’s career was hindered due to a life-changing diagnosis of the AIDS virus. He was hospitalized for over a year with PML (Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy), paralyzed on the right side of his body (originally right-handed), and was temporarily blind in the right eye as well. Instead of allowing his diagnosis to impact his spirit, he used it to transform himself through art therapy.

Despite his life-crisis, Gore is dedicated to using his platform to educate the community about art therapy. Sponsored by the Lomax Family Foundation, he has developed his own workshop series: “The Art of Healing, By Terrence L. Gore”. Initially supported by the Painted Bride, the workshop incorporates interactive art creation, nutritional vegetarian tastings, dance and music to help one explore their own creative expression and self-identity.

Recently at the Woodmere Museum’s Annual 76th Juried Exhibition, Mr. Gore’s highlighted piece “Creating Beyond Limitation” (a tribute to esteemed artist Horace Pippin) won first prize. Gore’s piece is a mix media in 3-D, consisting of various materials including: avocados (sanitized preserve, sculpted into human features), Indian bean pod shells, papyrus paper, leather prayer socks, coconut husk, satin, subway paint, and Gore’s recycled garments.

This was Gore’s third exhibition after receiving praise from the art community for his previous collection, ”The Stroke of Genius”, which was presented in collaboration with radio station WURD, in 2009. The second solo exhibition entitled “Another Stroke of Genius” was presented by the nonprofit, Art From The Heart, in 2012 on South Street.

Gore’s work is executed with the consistency of “earth consciousness” in mind. Reflecting on his success, Gore states, “The goal is to create momentum to confirm my status as a renowned/celebrated artist, as I am living! I give credit to my medical practitioners, combined with my personal approach and staying on top of my healthy holistic transformation.”
How Strong is your Spiritual Foundation?

We will discuss together ways for you to take a look at your personal Spiritual Foundation in a modern way that includes personal growth, a quest for an ultimate/sacred meaning, and your own inner/outer health. Build a tool box of ideas and discover ways to personally strengthen your Spiritual Foundation in the New Year
Rev. Tony Bradford is a dynamic and humorous speaker; gifted teacher, compassionate counselor and his messages are inspiring and relevant to today’s world.

Rev. Tony earned his Master’s Degree in Consciousness Studies at the Holmes Institute and became an Authorized Minister of Religious Science in 2012. He is a native of Pittsburgh, Pa and attended the Pennsylvania State University where he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Clothing/Textiles & Marketing. He has returned to the Bay Area and currently he lives in Alameda, CA. He is a Staff Minister at the Oakland Center for Spiritual Living- 5000 Clarewood Drive Oakland, CA 94618

Rev. Tony has returned to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in 2016 and currently is an Associate Director of Community Engagement. He previously held the position as an HIV/STI Prevention Program Manager for over 10 years serving the African American Gay community in San Francisco. His calling is to serve, and his focused Ministry going forward will be working in the HIV/AIDS prevention communities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Rev. Tony began his Spiritual Journey at the East Bay Church of religious Science as a Licensed Religious Science Practitioner in 2007. As a Staff Minister, He served on the Health & Wellness Ministry, Education Ministry, and Prayer Ministry. Rev. Tony recently served for three years as the Senior Minister at The Center for Spiritual Living Wilmington, Delaware.

Rev. Tony’s desire to help and serve his community by holding the truth about the conditions that seem to keep them disenfranchised, has led him to pursue a calling in Spiritual Teaching, Mentoring young folks and Speaking his truth to do his part in the Spiritual Transformation of the Planet.
Basking in the Vibes of the Rainbow: Embodied yoga for all bodies and chakra sound bath

Every body can join this fun-filled mind/body practice which is sprinkled with good vibes. Bring any stress or tension you might have and leave with a deeper appreciation for breath, movement and relaxation. This workshop will offer a supportive and encouraging yoga practice along with a deep restorative sound bath.

Rainbow Vibes Yoga Worksheet (PDF)
Learn more at www.kenbreniman.com

Condom Fit and Sexual Pleasure

Contrary to what you learned (or didn’t) in your middle school sex ed course, condoms are not one-size-fits-all! This workshop is a sex positive exploration of condom sizes, shapes, materials and fits in hopes of finding one that fits your body and that feels good!

This is a hands on workshop and conversation that will be informative, engaging and supportive. The discussion will include condom tips and tricks like staying hard, minimizing disruption, negotiation, and other best practices for integrating condoms into your sex life. You might not use condoms all the time, not even regularly, but many of us still use them. This is the opportunity to feel sexy, confident and secure in your sexual encounters by improving your relationship with condoms. This workshop is meant for community members and sex educators alike. Come join the fun.
Joshua O’Neal is director sexual health services for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which includes a collective of sexual health and PrEP programs throughout San Francisco. He also instructs human sexuality courses for City College of San Francisco. Joshua advocates for and works closely with queer communities, trans-individuals, substance users and sex workers within public health, community-based and medical settings. His professional and academic work have been presented and published in state epidemiology reports, the Journal of Clinical Virology, the Journal of AIDS, and Springer Journal’s Current HIV/AIDS reports, Gay Men’s Health Summit, as well as National & State HIV Prevention and Sexual Health Conferences.
The 3 Key Indicators of Whether You’re Pursuing the Right Relationship in the Right Way

A workshop for single gay men who want to pursue a meaningful relationship. I’ll point out three indicators to help them assess how well their current approach to dating and relationships is serving them. These indicators target three primary groups of single men: (1) Men with little or no dating experience who feel too intimidated to date; (2) Men who have had their heart broken and who now associate relationships with pain and are afraid of being hurt again; (3) Men who, having been around the block a few times, believe that there is no such thing as true love or feel that they are incapable of finding love.

Learning these indicators will allow the individual to identify which areas require work in order to increase their chance of finding a life partner. Once they’ve identified the root problems, they can focus on these instead of pursuing unsuitable relationships.
Scott’s passion for relationships came from his childhood as he grew up feeling lonely. Like many gay men, he knew he was different from others and came out at age 21. When his first relationship of sixteen years ended, Scott, heartbroken, vowed to search for the “secret” of creating and sustaining successful, meaningful relationships. He created the world’s first online training, Gay Men Relationship Blueprint, and authored Lonely No More – 8 Steps To Find Your Gay Husband.

Scott is founder of “Asians and Friends San Francisco Bay”, a social group with over seven hundred local members. He works to help gay men find their compatible companion or build lasting friendships for fun and adventure. Scott is a trained relationship coach and graduate of Tony Robbins’ Mastery University. He has appeared on TV, interviewed on David Perry’s “10 Percent” and the LGBT program “We Are Family” in Hong Kong. He facilitated Relationship Workshops for San Francisco’s social group, MAX.

Learn more at scotttsui.com
Cross Generational Communication Among Gay Men

An episode from my documentary project Conversations With Gay Elders screens Friday night before the conference.

For my workshop, I will lead a discussion about issues that often make it difficult for gay men of different generations to speak comfortably and openly with each other. Unlike most other minorities, LGBT people can not easily learn about our culture and history from our mostly straight parents, and lack of understanding and underlying sexual discomfort can inhibit gay men of different generations from engaging with each other, to the detriment of all. In this workshop we will discuss some of these themes and how gay men of different generations can learn to feel safer with, and more appreciative of each other.
Best known for his queer historical documentaries We Were Here (2011) and The Cockettes (2002), David Weissman’s most recent project is Conversations With Gay Elders. In this cross-generational collaboration 63-year-old producer/ director Weissman works in partnership with gay men in their 20s and 30s to profile gay men in their 70s and 80s, whose journeys of navigating being “different” preceded the era of Stonewall and Gay Liberation.

David moved to San Francisco as a long-haired 22 year old in 1976 and over the next 28 years was deeply involved in The City’s cultural and political life. Living in San Francisco through Harvey Milk’s election and assassination followed by the darkest years of the AIDS epidemic, David increasingly grasped the importance of documenting our LGBT history for younger, and future generations.

David moved to Portland OR in 2004, where he co-founded QDoc: The Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival—the only film festival in the world exclusively devoted to LGBT documentaries.
Spiritual Care: Bridging the Gap Between Church Hurt and Healing

This presentation is designed to examine and discuss the variation of narratives among Black Gay Men and how Faith Leaders can better serve them to reduce the number of new HIV infections, and address the individual in a holistic way. Faith Leaders, service providers and a network of individuals living their truth will come together and address the hurt and pain experienced by Black Gay Men through their Faith and the strategies to move individuals from Hurt to Healing, by acknowledging the structural and cultural factors.

This workshop also address and equip participants with the necessary tools to curtail sexuality and HIV related stigma and close the gap between faith and justice by bridging the gap between church hurt and healing using and implementing these strategies on their own and within their faith based institutions, to create solidarity between both Faith and Black LGBTQI Communities and move beyond church hurt, and heal.
Camryn Crump is the Social Media Outreach Program Coordinator, Public/Media Relations Coordinator and address Faith and Sexuality through his program, the Parent, the Child and the Process at APEB Oakland. Currently, Camryn is attending Pacific School of Religion obtaining his Masters of Divinity (MDiv) in Gender, Sexuality and Religion studies.

Camryn is a 2016 graduate of the African American HIV University AAHU at UCLA, Co-Chairs the Black Treatment and Advocates Network, BTAN Bay Area and have presented research and updates at national gatherings such as USCA, and a participant in the Build A Brother Institute coordinated by the Young Black Gay Men’s Leadership Initiative at the National African American MSM Leadership Conference under NAESM.

Working closely with youth and young adults Camryn Crump reaches the masses across the United States using his trademark Cam’s Verbal Vomit, educating them on HIV Prevention, Testing, and addressing Stigma through workshops, panels, and online forums.

With the purpose of bridging the gap between Faith and Justice, Camryn works to create strategic programs and activities that will help build solidarity with both Black Faith and Black LGBT Communities. Camryn works through faith to do his part in ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic and empower other Gay Men of Color.
PrEP: Practicing Respect and Empathy in Partnership for Men of Color

In this workshop we will use the practices of ritual, writing, mirroring and meditation to explore what it means to practice respect and empathy in partnership. We will review some of the research led by Indigenous scholars on Historical Trauma and Unresolved Grief to review the evidenced based data that speaks to how historical trauma impacts our sense of self and behaviors. We will write in community, listen to affirming music, sit in silence, practice deep listening and share what wants to be shared. Led by a cis-gendered masculine of center woman we will explore how our ancestral stories of relationships impact our values and sense of self, and how it is not only important to reflect and heal from the traumas but to claim the ancestral gifts of love as we explore healthy relationships with ourselves and others.
J. Phoenix Smith, MSW is the Director of HIV Care at the Alameda County Public Health Department’s Office of HIV Care and Prevention. She has over 20 years experience in public health. She has also spent 15 years in study and practice of African Traditional Religions and is an initiated Priest in the Afro-Cuban Lucumi spiritual tradition. As a masculine of center cis-gendered woman she has been on a path of healing for many years while also working in the field of HIV for most of her adult life.
Good Vibrations Pleasure Positive Show and Tell

At Good Vibrations we believe that pleasure is your birthright! In this workshop we’ll explore sex positivity and ways to elevate your sex life with a fun and informative show-and-tell. We’ll discuss sexual anatomy and response, and share tips on healthy communication, sex toys, lubricant, BDSM & kink, and much more. Whether you’re solo or partnered, a novice or a pro, you’re bound to walk away with some new ideas to try.

Learn more about Good Vibrations
Andy Duran is a Bay Area native sexual health educator and the Education Director for Good Vibrations

As a trainer for over 15 years, this California bear cub and proud blue collar dandy loves providing accurate and accessible sex information with hopes to arouse curiosity and spread truth.

When not philosophizing about all things sexual, Educator Andy can be found singing George Michael, blushing, and keeping up his teddy bear figure.
Spiritual Care: Bridging the Gap Between Church Hurt and Healing

This workshop also address and equip participants with the necessary tools to curtail sexuality and HIV related stigma and close the gap between faith and justice by bridging the gap between church hurt and healing using and implementing these strategies on their own and within their faith based institutions, to create solidarity between both Faith and Black LGBTQI Communities and move beyond church hurt, and heal.
Minister Rob Newells assumed the role of Executive Director for AIDS Project of the East Bay in 2015 after serving a term as Chair of the agency’s Board of Directors. He has been an active community advocate since 1999, helping to develop HIV testing, outreach, and education programming for young black men in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. He also supported Technical Assistance and Training activities and served as the Publications Coordinator for NMAC in Washington, DC.

In 2011, Min. Rob was selected as one of 30 people living with HIV in the United States to help rollout NMAC’s Treatment Education, Advocacy and Mobilization (TEAM) Division. With the support of AVAC’s Prevention Research, Outreach, Advocacy, and Representation (PxROAR) program, he has worked nationally and internationally to address stigma and increase biomedical research literacy.

An Oakland native and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Min. Newells is an alumnus of the University of Southern California, the Pacific School of Religion, and Princeton Theological Seminary. He serves as an Associate Minister at the Imani Community Church in Oakland and is a contributing author to the book Struggling in Good Faith for which he penned the chapter on “The Black Church” exploring the relationship between faith and sexual stigma.
Hooking up with Trans Masculine Folks: An Interactive Discussion

Join in on a conversation about Trans masculine bodies, desires, safer sex and more. Bring your questions and an open mind and learn how to be a better lover, and ally, to the Trans masculine community. This is geared toward cis men who sleep with other men but open to all.
Niko Kowell has a long history of LGBT activism, starting with the creation of his high school’s first GSA. After the AmeriCorps and college he moved to San Francisco where he started his work with the MSM/TMSM (trans men who have sex with men) community. For the last 9 years where he has worked with the Trans community at Trans: Thrive (a program of API Wellness), we he is currently the Trans Services Program Manager.
Ashanti Branch works to change how young men of color interact with their education and how their schools interact with them. Raised in Oakland by a single mother on welfare, Ashanti left the inner city to study civil engineering at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. A construction project manager in his first career, his life changed after he tutored struggling students and realized his passion for teaching.

In 2004, during Ashanti’s first year teaching high school math, he started The Ever Forward Club to provide support for African American and Latino males who were not achieving to their potential. Since then, Ever Forward has helped all of its more than 150 members graduate from high school, and 93% of them have gone on to attend two- or four-year colleges, military or trade school.

The Ever Forward Club was featured last year in the documentary, “The Mask You Live In,” which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. After completing a fellowship at the Stanford school in 2016, Ashanti, stepped away from working for a school district and began working as the Founding Executive Director for Ever Forward-Siempre Adelante, in an effort to grow the organization to serve thousands of Bay Area students. In April 2017, Ashanti was awarded a fellowship from the national organization CBMA – Campaign for Black Male Achievement.
unMasking Healthy Relationships

Through presentation, hands-on activities, and film this workshop will introduce participants to the global campaign called #100kMasks which highlights our individual uniqueness and our commonality. Building upon our work with men across the world we will explore our own masks and masks from people all over the world. Participants will have an opportunity to build deeper connection and community with those present and learn tools for building connections with others in their lives.

Far too often men have to navigate the complex world of work, home, and the streets by themselves. Issues like fitting in, self-esteem, trauma, loss, body image and the pressures of life keep many boys, teens, and men from realizing their full potential. Moreover, there rarely exists sufficient safe spaces in which men, both young and old can talk about the trials and tribulations of life.
George Ayala, PsyD, is the Executive Director of the Global Forum on MSM and HIV (MSMGF) where he leads the agency’s international policy, advocacy, research, and technical support responses to HIV among gay men and other men who have sex with men. Dr. Ayala has worked in the non-profit HIV/AIDS sector for over 20 years.

A clinical psychologist by training, Dr. Ayala has conducted HIV social science and intervention research since 1996. His research has mainly focused on understanding the mechanisms through which social discrimination affects the risk for HIV among gay men of color in the U.S. He has more recently explored the facilitators and barriers to HIV-related services through his international research with gay men and other men who have sex with men.
Queer Voices and Other Love Songs: Envisioning and Enacting the Diversity of LGBTQ2S Minds, Bodies, and Souls

This presentation will focus on the diversity of queer voices and how the the mind, body, and soul interact together to produce holistic health and social practices for our communities across age, race, ability, gender, class, and spirituality. As we imagine and remember our shared and divergent histories as queer people, how do we embrace and celebrate our stories of resistance, resilience, and agency in the face of legal, political, social, and cultural challenges across time and space? How do we embrace our voices and commitments to resist in the spirit of love songs that tell stories of emotion, desire, reconciliation, healing and self-determination? This session is meant to be interactive and to focus on making a way forward out of the many challenges and triumphs that we experience as queer people in the Bay Area.
Dr. Andrew Jolivétte, professor and former chair of the American Indian Studies Department at San Francisco State University is an accomplished educator, writer, speaker, and socio-cultural critic. Dr. Jolivette currently serves as the Interim Executive Director of the American Indian Community Cultural Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California. He is the author of five books: Cultural Representation in Native America (AltaMira Press, 2006); Louisiana Creoles: Cultural Recovery and Mixed-Race Native American Identity (Lexington Books, 2007); Obama and the Biracial Factor: The Battle for a New American Majority (Policy Press, 2012); Research Justice: Methodologies for Social Change (Policy Press July 2015); Indian Blood: HIV and Colonial Trauma in San Francisco’s Two-Spirit Community (Indigenous Confluences Series, University of Washington Press, May 2016) and many journal articles and community studies including A Report on the Health and Wellness of Multiracial Youth in the San Francisco Bay Area (2008). Jolivette’s book, Indian Blood: HIV and Colonial Trauma in San Francisco’s Two-Spirit Community was a finalist in the LGBTQ Studies Category for a Lambda Literary Award in June 2017. The Lammys are the world’s most prestigious LGBTQ Book Award Ceremony.

Jolivétte’s writing has been featured in the American Indian Cultural and Research Journal, the Ethnic Studies Review Journal, The Yellow Journal of Medicine, the Journal of Critical Mixed Race Studies and in several anthologies. He has served as president of the board for three organizations, Speak Out (the Institute for Democratic Education and Culture), the GLBT Historical Society &Museum, and iPride for Multiracial Families and Youth. He is the former Vice-Chair of the DataCenter: Research for Justice Board of Directors as well as a former board member with the African American Art and Culture Complex in San Francisco. He currently serves as Vice-President for Finance for Black Community Matters in San Francisco and as a Board Member of the Center for Restorative Solutions in California. Jolivette is the Book Series Editor of Critical Indigenous and American Indian Studies at Peter Lang Publishing in New York.

Dr. Jolivette recently served as scholar in residence in Native Sexualities and Public Health at the University of California, Santa Cruz in fall 2013. He was the Indigenous Peoples’ Representative at the United Nations Forum on HIV and the Law in 2011 during his two-year fellowship as an IHART (Indigenous HIV/AIDS Research Training Program) Fellow at the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute at the University of Washington in Seattle. He recently served as the co-chair for the National Association for Ethnic Studies 2014 Conference, “Research As Ceremony: Decolonizing Ethnic Studies” which was held at Mills College in April 2014. He delivered a keynote address at the 2014 International Indigenous HIV/AIDS Conference in Sydney, Australia and at the Australasian HIV/AIDS Conference in Brisbane, Australia in September, 2015. He is a featured sociologist in SAGE Publishing’s new film, The World of Sociology to be released in 2016 where he gives lectures on race, gender, and sexuality. Professor Jolivette is the founder of Black Men’s Space 2016, a social, cultural, and political organizing space for men of African descent in the Bay Area. Professor Jolivette is the current co-chair for the National Association for Ethnic Studies 45^thAnnual Conference, “The Promise of Ethnic Studies: On Healing, Home, and the Radical Politics of Solidarity” scheduled for March 2017 at San Francisco State University. In the Spring of 2017, he became the Faculty Coordinator of the Presidential Scholars Program at San Francisco State University.

Dr. Jolivette is a Creole of Opelousa, Choctaw, Atakapa-Ishak, French, African, Irish, Italian, and Spanish descent. Professor Jolivette is the former tribal historian for the Atakapa-Ishak Nation located between southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas.   As a national speaker he has spoken to thousands of college students, educators, government employees and private sector organizations over the past decade across the United States and Australia. Jolivette received his Ph.D in Sociology from the University of California Santa Cruz with specializations in the sociology of race and ethnicity, the sociology of education, the sociology of Latin America, and in the sociology of education.

Queer Voices and Other Love Songs: Envisioning and Enacting the Diversity of LGBTQ2S Minds, Bodies, and Souls

Prior to joining UCHAPS, Kevin served in leadership roles at the D.C. Promise Neighborhood Initiative, Metro TeenAIDS and the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Kevin is the founder of the Black LGBT Archivists Society of Philadelphia and served as a co-trainer for the Gay Men’s Health Leadership Academy. Kevin is from Detroit, Michigan. He is a proud graduated of the University of Michigan and received master’s degrees from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and the University of Pennsylvania.
Stephanie Nicole LeDream has been performing all over the SF bay for the past 13 years, raising money and awareness for LGBT causes and HIV Prevention. By day, she is Jimmy Gale, Manager of HIV+ Services for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Stephanie has recently taken a break from performing to prepare and train for AIDS LifeCycle, a 545 mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Born on the south side of Chicago, Milan Christopher is a rapper, model, actor, reality star, and LGBTQ advocate, who shot to fame in 2015, thanks in part to him being cast in a ground – breaking LGBTQ storyline on VH1’s ‘Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood’. Milan is also one of the first and few openly gay men on the hip-hop scene and by far one of the most prolific gay personalities to emerge from the LGBTQ community, and in a larger sense, the Hip Hop community, seeking opportunity, acceptance, and understanding.

Milan moved to Los Angeles in 2008 to pursue a career in the entertainment industry and found his niche rather swiftly, appearing on tv shows like Nip Tuck, The Doctors, and 12 Corozones, as well as commercials for brands like Red Bull, Chase Bank, and Virgin Mobile. Milan has also worked on music videos with Kanye West, The Game, Lil Wayne, and Neyo. It wasn’t until Milan worked with Beyoncé that he realized he wanted to focus on his solo rap career and concentrate on his own brand.

Milan’s entrepreneurship also expanded his brand to a teeth-whitening facility and his own underwear line. A powerful advocate for the LGBTQ community, last year, Milan released “When I Go” a song that directly combated suicide and bullying affecting LGBTQ youth. He is also a member of the GLAAD Foundation and the Human Rights Campaign.
Jason A. Smith, MTS, JD. – Mr. Smith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nursing and Health Sciences at California State University East Bay where he teaches courses in healthcare law and ethics and in medical humanities. He also serves as the Associate Chair of the Nursing and Health Sciences Department directing the Health Sciences program.

Mr. Smith is an expert in public health law and focuses on problems in jurisprudence and ethics in public health law. He is particularly interested in ethical and legal issues in the distribution of health inequalities in societies and has a growing interest in climate change and public health law. He is also interested the history of public health in the United States.

Mr. Smith earned his law degree from Northeastern University School of Law and his degree in theology from Harvard Divinity School. Mr. Smith lives in Oakland, CA with his partner. He spends his free time camping and hiking in the Sierra backcountry and has an interest in contemporary art. You can find his CV and more information at www.jasonasmith.net
Jacob Smith Yang serves as Senior Director of Capacity Building at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum. In this role, he develops, oversees, and delivers training and technical assistance to community-based organizations and health departments. He also serves as an advisor on agency direction and strategies.

Jacob has more than 25 years of experience in non-profit management, organizational development, coalition building, and social justice advocacy. His first job was a national reporter for Boston’s Gay Community News. He is the former executive director of Massachusetts Asian & Pacific Islanders (MAP) for Health, which runs an LGBT youth program. He served as the Chair of the Boston EMA Ryan White Planning Council, the Massachusetts Legislature’s GLBT Youth Commission, and on the Advisory Council for the Massachusetts Legislature’s Asian American Commission. He is a big show queen.

Friday, January 26th, 2018

Doors open at 5:30 pm, film starts at 6 pm

at the Oakland Marriott City Center

A free screening of award winning filmmaker David Weissman’s Conversations with Gay Elders, including a discussion with the filmmaker.

Conversations with Gay Elders is a series of in-depth interviews and conversational documentaries focused on gay men whose journeys of self-discovery precede the era of Stonewall and gay liberation. It’s a cross-generational collaboration, in which 62-year-old Weissman (The Cockettes, We Were Here) works in partnership with gay men in their 20s and 30s as editors to profile gay men in their 70s and 80s. Conversations with Gay Elders explores how these men navigated being “different” long before there was any social or political context for a positive LGBT self-image.

The episode being screened tonight features New Yorker Daniel Maloney who was 77 years old at the time of the interview. Born in Darby Pennsylvania, Maloney was a principal dancer with the legendary Martha Graham in the 1970s. The editor of this piece is Jake Stein, who came on to this project at age 24, shortly after coming out of the closet as a gay man.